First off: I don't have the time to run this. I'm just starting the discussion.

Anyway, my seed of an idea is a planet/outpost on the border of human and Citadel space, on the forefront of the First Contact War, a place where mercenaries, informants, deserters and other war profiteers of all kinds mingle.

This is an iffy idea because the FCW was only three months long and rather small. I am by no means beholden to it, especially in the case of a much better concept coming along. Again, I would only participate, and not run the game.

Not really knowing anything about the FCW, or how it came to be resolved, I think a '3 month war' gives plenty of time for a core group of characters to figure things out and make a difference, sorta our own Mass Effect type of story, with an apparently happy ending?

I'd have to know more about the FCW to go into more specific details, but I see it as being a pretty guided path with lots of character development. I'm also imagining an entirely human caste from what little you've mentioned about the FCW before.

I've been dying for a Mass Effect RP for a while, but unfortuneately I don't really know much about the FCW, nor would such a setting really appeal to the character I've made up for another game (Which unfortuneately died before it could begin)

I've been wanting to play out a quarian on pilgrimage who seeks to find a way to gradually rebuild his people's immune system so they could finally settle and rebuild their society. Unfortuneately I don't really see how such a character would fit in with the setting of the FCW.

Either way, I'd need a little more info about the story direction before I could build a new character to fit into this RP.

SPOILER ALERT! Do not read unless... you've played the first hour of ME2.

Well, as you should know, Shepard was out for two years after the first Normandy got all beat up. What that leaves is characters to deal with the canon results of the Citadel fight with the Reaper, and a the Collectors still... collecting. Haven't thought too much about it but the RP could be about humans in a colony on the eve of an attack trying to survive. La de da, any other ideas that I haven't really had the time to think of yet. lol

Well, FCW time period would mean only Humans (read the Wiki) unless we did something immediately in the post-aftermath of the war where the Humans are actually coming into contact with these other species.

Could always do that - some sort of human 'exploratory' vessel, that is making contact with the Citadel for first time, meeting all these new species etc.

Yeah, Batarians and humans aren't friends. Batarian accuse humans of encroaching on Batarian territory, but the Council does nothing to stop humanity. So the Batarian's pull out of the Council races and seclude themselves in their own space.

They are mostly known as slave traders and you see a lot of them as pirates or mercs.

And there are some Turian's who are still sore over FCW. Example: Saren.

Might be a touch off topic, but ever hear of Now and Then and Here and There?

It's an anime about the violence of war. It has a lot of grisly stuff that people like to pretend doesn't happen. Child soldiers, forcing child sex, genocide, etc. I mean, there is some pretty brutal stuff in this animal and the main characters gets tortured in the first few eps and get his ass kicked in every other ep.

The reason why I brought this up is that I just finished watching the series and now Mass Effect is fresh on my mind. I keep thinking of the characters or people of Mass Effect being put through such brutal circumstances.

They pretty much gloss over the subject of war in Mass Effect, wanting to aim toward soap opera feel and saving the galaxy. Doesn't go over exactly how much suffering each sides took during war time.

But then again, it was a intergalactic war which was fought with space ships and cannons. Not face to face with bullets flying like in the anime.

But there was the occupation of Shanxi by the Turians. There has got to be some brutality or something worth telling about.

I made a thread about it, my idea is we pick a basic part in the timeline to start off on (like the beginning of Mass Effect 2, in my idea), and from minor tweaks in the story it could go off in a completely new direction. A good way to challenge your creativity, but at the same time not stray away from the feel of Mass Effect.

There are lots of wars or fights after the FCW, and there's still brutality involved - For example, Purgatory. And there's the mercs, racial tensions, the whole thing with the geth (which could cause some hatred for the Quarians), the collectors, vorcha, etc. So no complaining that there won't be any excitement :)

I rather do a game during the occupation of Shanxi. Where the turians have taken control of the colony and few months before the Alliance reclaimed it. There had to have been some drama or action going on at that time. I can imagine an underground movement of humans that have flown under the turian's radar and are trying to contact earth or fight back. And the civilians that suffered abuse or other hardship at the turian's hands. Also, the turians have to deal with controlling an unknown species whose females resemble asari with more earthy coloring.